First World Problems
by ARMV7
Summary: Work problems, School problems, and Problems at home are all things factored into life for close friends Cinder, Emerald, Neo, and Ruby. But what happens when hopeless infatuation, and immeasurable oblivion are thrown in the mix? A story about loneliness, struggles, and a splash of love. [Normal Life AU][Emberald / Cookies & Cream][Trying something new]
1. Crush

_**A/N**_** Oh my god, something that isn't Cinderruby. Yep. This features two pairings I've never done before: [Cinder x Emerald & Ruby x Neo] or [Emberald & Cookies & Cream] Freezerburn is in there too! Just wanted to try something that isn't Cinderruby. Honestly I'm a big fan of them as well.**

**Short fic maybe like, 10-ish chapters long. Leave a review with your opinion on these pairings, as I'd like to know what you guys think of them. But above all, ENJOY!**

Chapter 1. Crush

_"You get back here right now young lady!" _

Cinder ignored her mother's call. Or what at this point had almost sounded like a plea. The usual routine had already commenced: she'd come to this modest two story place she called home, late. Late being roughly seven-o'clock. Then, not even three seconds in the door, her mother would chew her out to no end. Cinder would give her mother some negative rejoinder, and things would just spiral downwards from there.

This time their argument had carried off into the living-room, and just as it reached its meltdown point, Cinder scoffed at her mother and got up to leave. She pulled herself up from the expensive recliner and brushed past her mother who was stationary in the hallway. Just as Cinder passed, or rather, pushed by her. The taller woman grabbed onto Cinder's forearm and yanked her back.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked, her voice still not quite intimidating as one would think.

Cinder rolled her eyes and smirked at the woman before her. Her mother's name was Autumn, middle aged, dark-haired, and looked as if she was cut from stone. She was still dressed in her cream colored business suit, high heels and all.

"I'm going out." Was Cinder's simple response.

"Says who?"

"Says me."

Cinder followed her deadpan answer with a small smirk. It was almost pitiful really. She could see Autumn, struggle to find words that were strong enough to get her point across. But every each time she failed, and Cinder would walk all over her.

Autumn didn't know what to say. Everyday had been an uphill battle with Cinder ever since the divorce three years ago. Her husband was having an affair with another woman, and after everything was said and done -he wanted nothing to do with herself nor Cinder.

"And just what makes you think-" Autumn trailed off, seeing nothing but an empty space in front of her.

Cinder laughed to herself as she trotted up the steps to the second floor. Her mother was so lost in thought she could get away with her even noticing. The ebony-haired girl took the first left in the upstairs hallway and entered into her small room. To an adult it was messy, to any other seventeen year old it was normal. A mostly dark themed room with the odd orange accent here and there.

Cinder walked up to the mahogany nightstand next to her bed and disconnected her phone from its charger. She unlocked it quickly and opened the messaging app. There, at the top of the list, was her closest of friends;

Ruby Rose.

Her relationship with the excited and impressionable girl had started a little over three years ago. It was Ruby's first day of classes and it just so happened that Cinder was the one she went to for directions. Cinder being a year older than Ruby, sent the girl in the right direction and went on with her day. Fortunately or unfortunately, Emerald and Mercury were late that day, so Cinder just decided to hang out with the new girl at lunch, people were smart enough not to look twice as to why Cinder Fall was sitting with a first year student -unless they wanted trouble. Things took off from there. Ruby wasn't the typical fare Cinder hung around, but it was a nice little change. She found out quickly enough that the younger girl was pretty caring and was always there when Cinder was feeling down.

Cinder quickly hit the contact and typed up a quick message:

**C: Red, you busy? **

**R: No, why?**

**C: Wanna hang out?**

**R: Sure, where?**

**C: Idk ideas?**

**R: Come to my house**

**C: K, be there in a bit**

Cinder closed the app, and slid her phone in her pocket. She flipped around and dug through the small closet on the far-side of the room. The girl swapped out her plain red tee for a warmer off-the-shoulder low cut maroon blouse. She looked in the mirror and smirked, the sweater complimented her tight ripped jeans perfectly.

Just before leaving she grabbed her keys from her drawer, fixed her hair to its customary style, and jogged out the door, relishing in the fact that Ruby was free and she could get out of the house.

Cinder jogged down the stairs, only to come face to face with Autumn again. "You're not leaving." She stated with crossed arms.

"Oh, whatever." Cinder scoffed.

"If you walk out that door; I'm not letting you back in."

"Isn't that the scoop of the century." The ebony-haired girl said while slipping on her shoes.

"Excuse me?! You don't talk-"

_**'SLAM!'**_

Autumn winced at the door quite literally slamming in her face, jostling the curtains off their rungs.

Outside, Cinder was smirking once more. Fed up with how her mother treats her like a child. She shook that thought and dug her car keys out of her pocket, making her smirk even wider. When her parents got divorced, her father practically up and left. Not even bothering to come and reclaim his all his stuff. He took a little, but one of the things he left was his black 1997 Mazda RX-7. Before Cinder could even drive she claimed it as hers. It was old, hence why her father left it. But a car's a car, and Cinder was thrilled to have her own. Even if it really wasn't hers.

Ruby only lived a five minute walk away, but she opted to take the car just in case they needed it. There was no way in _hell _she'd come back again and get it.

Cinder yanked open the driver side door and climbed in, breathing in the scent of old leather upholstery. She slotted the key in, gave it a turn, and backed out of the driveway. Once she got out onto the street, she made a funny face at the house and peeled off, glad to just get away.

_**######**_

"Ugh, for the third time Yang, it's divided by the tangent of 'A' not 'R'..." Weiss Schnee, groaned. This was definitely not how she wanted to spend her evening. Yang and herself were paired up for a small advanced functions assignment. The blonde had insisted on them going to her house to work on it and now she found herself arguing over which letter goes where in the formulas.

"Not it's 'R', see?" Yang held up the sheet and pointed to the equation in question.

"Yang that's an A."

"It is? Weiss not trying to be mean or anything, but your handwriting is shoddy as hell."

"Well it is when I'm getting dragged out of class while trying to write them!" She seethed, remembering how the blonde pulled her out of class as soon as the bell rang with just a few seconds to get down the writing on the chalkboard. She could've gotten them down sooner -if Yang hadn't insisted on chatting so much during class.

"Give me that." The white-haired girl tore the sheet from Yang's grip. She stood up and ruffled out the wrinkles in her white hoodie and dusted off the eraser shavings on her white skinnies. "Why don't we take a break." She suggested.

"And do what~" Yang said, eyebrows raised.

"Ugh, nothing you brute." She chided.

"Well i was thinking we could-"

"Ah ah ah, let me stop you right there. What's rule number one when it comes to us and school work?" She pointed at Yang.

"No kissing, touching, or general inappropriate behavior until after the work is finished..." The blonde droned.

"Right. And is the work finished?" Weiss asked, smirk growing on her features.

"No..." Yang sighed sadly.

"So how about we take a break and eat, finish the project, and find something else to do."

"Oh really~?" Yang's mood shot back up.

"For heavens sake Yang don't push your luck."

"Sorry."

Yang couldn't help but say that without a smirk too. If not evident enough, she and Weiss had recently made their relationship official, and have been dating for a few months now. It was a combination of Yang's advances and Weiss' rebellious attitude that brought them together and -despite the contrary- they share a pretty happy relationship.

Yang stood up and went from the living-room to the connected kitchen to fetch something to eat. Summer and Taiyang had gone out to see some terrible movie none of the girls wanted to see, so the house was free to just Yang, Weiss, and-

"What's all the yelling about?" A higher pitched and calm voice questioned.

Yang tuned from the fridge to see her sister Ruby skip the bottom step of the stairs and walk into the kitchen. She wore nothing special. Just a black v-neck and worn-out red jeans. "Oh y'know Rubes, Weiss just being..." Yang trailed off seeing the "I dare you" Look Weiss was giving her from the corner of her eye. "Being t-the best person on all of Remnant. T-That's who." She fake cheered. "So what're you doing? Thought you were gonna 'Game' all night."

"Nah, Cinder's on her way over." Ruby spoke with casualty.

Weiss frowned, "You mean that goth girl? The one Emerald's got a crush on?"

"Yeah- wait. How'd you know that?" Ruby queried. "And just because her hair is black doesn't make her goth Weiss."

"She told Mercury, he told Neo, she told me, and I passed it onto Weissy here." Yang cut in, obviously proud of her gossiping skills.

"Wow Weiss. I though you weren't into gossip?"

"I'm not. I just think someone like Emerald could do much better than... Cinder." Weiss grimaced at the word 'Cinder'

"Why not?" The crimsonette stood up for her friend, "What's wrong with Cinder?"

"Her piercings are weird, she's- wait why're you defending her so much? You want to date her too I assume?"

Ruby glared at the white-clad girl. "What?! No, I like her, b-but not like that." The girl felt her embarrassment rise when Yang started to grin.

"Yeah, Rubes here has got another special lady in the cross-hairs."

"Would you stop saying cross-hairs? I'm not trying to kill someone." Ruby was defending herself now.

"I don't even want to know..." Weiss sighed. She grabbed Yang by her broad shoulders and directed her back into the kitchen, muttering the words "We have work to do" in a venomous sneer. She was the only one on Remnant who could make the blondes skin crawl with nervous worry.

Eliciting a content sigh at the fact that Yang didn't prod further into the mystery of her crush, Ruby decided that staying here was probably not the best of ideas. Yang and Weiss were definitely going to get some work done -just not the pen and paper kind.

She paced over tint he front door, slipped on her runners and snuck out the door. Once on the porch she dug her phone from the depths of her jeans pocket and checked the time; the thin numbers reading : 7:47 P.M. sort of late, but as long as she was back by ten -it was okay.

It was still a tad bit visible outside. The sun painting the horizon an over-saturated purple. She was surprised to find how warm it still was for an April evening, winter always had a bad habit of sticking around far too long which in turn made the springtime much incredibly short.

Ruby took a deep breath of the fresh evening air and plunked her butt down on the cold concrete step; awaiting Cinder's arrival.

In the three years she's known Cinder, Ruby's been able to pick up on a lot about the ebony-haired girl. She knew her story back to front. Cinder grew up with not much of an parental influence. Her father treated her with disdain, and her mother was never around. Cinder would always refer to the woman as a "workaholic".

Cinder was the relaxed type with the whole "Whatever" attitude. She couldn't care less about what everyone thinks about her. Subsequently many people based their less than positive opinions off how she dresses, and who she hangs out with. Normally the girl would hang around Ruby herself, and their three other friends Mercury, Emerald, and Neo. And even days were Yang would come along too. Some called her goth, others called her a 'delinquent'. That was only on the surface however. Cinder got decent grades, albeit with a few detentions, and was overall a decent person.

Overall may be subjective.

The soft roar of a familiar engine derailed Ruby's train of thought. She stood up on the porch and looked out past the garden, grinning as Cinder's car pulled in the driveway. The scarlet girl continued to watch as Cinder climbed out of the low-slung vehicle, "Yo." She called out.

Cinder brushed her sweeping bangs away and took off her sunglasses. "Red Rose." She greeted. Cinder had all but ceased to call Ruby by her real first name and insisted on calling her 'Red' instead. "Why are you waiting outside? Am I not welcome anymore?"

"Nah, Weiss and Yang are in there, figured it'd be better if we went somewhere else." Ruby said, laying out the situation.

"Hm." Cinder hopped up and sat on the hood of her car, "Why don't we... go see that flame of yours?"

Ruby gave Cinder a flustered glare, "You need to stop calling her that too! Cross-hairs, flame..." she stammered off, "Her name is Neo. N-e-o."

"Defensive." Cinder giggled.

"What? Can't a girl like another girl and that be the end of it?"

"Not for you."

"Hey, why'd you text me anyway?" The crimsonette desperately wanted to change contexts.

"The usual."

"O-kay."

"C'mon, I'll text Merc and tell him to meet us there." The ebony-haired girl gestured for Ruby to get in.

"W-Wait we're actually going?"

"Yeah, I'm starving." Cinder said nonchalantly.

"Ffffine."

_**######**_

"Yay... a whole dollar. Pricks..." A girl with hair split between pink and brown sighed. She grabbed the pitiful tip off of the table and proceeded to place the dirty plates on a tray held in her offhand. Today was like any other day at her _wonderful _waitress job.

Her name was Neo, working at a decent restaurant called "The Wick". Owned by a man who's name just happened to be: Roman Torchwick. The man was an alright boss, but mostly handed his work off to subsidiaries and handled the simpler tasks. Still it got Neo paid, and when you're saving for college; that's all that really matters.

Neo shoved the single bill into her pocket and lugged the tray of dishes back to the kitchen. On her way her pantleg got caught under her heel causing her to stumble forward. "Dammit." she cussed, barely able to keep the tray from falling. If there was one thing she hated most about this job, it was the uniform policy. You had to wear all back clothes ordered from in store only. Meaning she couldn't just bring in her own. Even the smallest pair of jeans they had to offer didn't line up with her own shortness, and that resulted in a lot of trips and stumbles.

Neo hadn't really made any new friends in the two months she's been at the restaurant, but that didn't bother her. The multi-colored girl mostly kept to herself anyways, spending her breaks watching whatever hilarious videos she could find on YouTube, or playing games on her phone. It got lonely sometimes, but there was those odd days when her friends would stop by and make this mundane job a little more... colorful.

She'll never forget the day Yang and Cinder got banned for almost starting a fight with one of the waiters. When it comes to those two; you don't mess up their orders.

"Hey, Neo, boss says you can leave early today."

Neo perked up at the familiar voice. Emerald. The one who had helped her get this job in the first place. Emerald came around the corner to the front bar area and stood by Neo. Crimson eyes looking over the girls small form. "First I get a dollar, than I get to leave a whole-" Neo checked her watch, "-five minutes early. I must be _so_ privileged." She spat, words dripping with malice and sarcasm.

Emerald stood idly by, the dark-skinned girl not quite sure what to say.

"Ah, sorry Em. Just not the greatest workday ever." Neo said, resenting her previous behavior.

"It's cool. I was the same way when I started. Things'll get better." Emerald reassured her friend.

"Thanks." Neo grinned. She left Emerald to tend to the food orders and skipped off to one of the registers by three entrance to clock out. She typed in her employee number and and successfully signed off. Just as she was about to jog off to grab her belongings, a trio of individuals came in through the front doors.

"Cin I thought you got banned from here?"

"I did."

"So shouldn't you..."

"No, no. Neo and Em cover for me."

Looking up from the monitor, Neo made eye contact with her silver-haired friend Mercury, dressed in gray jeans and a black Adidas jacket. He was currently chatting up with Cinder -Ruby following close behind. "Hey, guys!" She called out. She watched as Ruby whispered something in Cinder's ear then trotted off. Mercury was the first to approach Neo. "Can I get some service please?" He asked with a grin.

"Don't be an ass Merc." Cinder jabbed him in the ribs, "Hey Neo."

"Where'd Ruby run off to?" The shorter girl asked, trying to look over Mercury's shoulder.

"She went to get us a table. You know how that girl is."

"Yeah, weird, that's what." The silver-haired boy quipped

"Mind if I join you guys? I just got off."

"Yeah, C'mon."

Neo was thrilled that today was one of those days her friends stopped by. Sure she was done work, but it's the thought that counts. She followed Cinder and Mercury to a booth in the far back corner of the dim restaurant. Ruby sitting on the padded seat patiently. "H-Hi Neo!" She erratically waved.

"Ruby." Neo nodded.

The four of them all took their seats. Cinder and Ruby on one side, Mercury and Neo on the other.

"I don't mean to repeat myself but are we getting some service here?" Mercury prodded again.

"Dude, would you shut-up please? Em should be around in a sec." Neo hissed.

All eyes fell on Cinder at the mention of Emerald. The ebony-haired teen completely oblivious to them, simply fiddling with her new phone in her lap. It wasn't the only thing she was oblivious to. Practically everyone knew about Emerald's crush on the proverbial bad girl. And Emerald had made it plenty clear for anyone not to tell Cinder. The thing was; Cinder didn't see Emerald that way, hence her oblivion to It all.

She finally looked up, with three pairs of eyes staring back.

"What? Is there something in my hair?"

"No." Mercury spoke. "You're just fine."

Saffron orbs narrowed. "Moron."

"Agreed." A fifth person came on the scene. Everyone's attention shifted from Cinder to Emerald standing at the end of the table. "You aren't going to cause trouble are you?" She asked.

"Don't worry, Yang's not here." Ruby reassured.

"Thank God. Now-" Emerald swept her minty bangs back and reached for the pen tucked behind her ear. "Wait, I'm guessing you're all getting the usual?"

"Question is, do you remember what that is? Hm?"

The mint-haired girl crossed her arms at Mercury's arrogant question. "Chicken Parm for you, Tuscan salad for Ruby and Neo-" Emerald took a pause to glance at Cinder who sat on the edge of the booth. Just as she was about to speak Cinder's favorite order her eyes caught the perfect view down the girls shirt, causing her to blush like mad. "F-For C-Cinder... it's... ahem." Emerald tore her eyes away from Cinder's cleavage and towards the wall. "For Cinder-"

"Actually Em, I'm feeling something new." Cinder interrupted.

"Like?"

"Something really greasy, and bad for me. Make it a surprise, kay?"

"Sure, anything for you." Emerald froze, "I-I mean, anything for all of you, yeah..."

With that embarrassing fiasco Emerald scampered off, internally scolding herself over her lack of smoothness when it comes to Cinder. The look down her shirt was sort of rewarding however. In that odd kind of way.

Back at the table Cinder shook her head, "What's with her all the time?"

"Who knows Cin. Who knows..." Neo remarked.

_**######**_

Within an hour the four of them finished their meals, paid, and all got ready to leave. Neo was less than thrilled to give up some cash for a tip, but Emerald was a friend, so exceptions had been made. They all pitched in even shares that amounted to twenty bucks before getting up to leave.

Emerald waved them off before walking back to tend to the table. She smiled at the generous tip but her expression quickly sank upon eyeing the spot Cinder had been sitting in. The dark-skinned girl slumped into the booth and flunked her head down on the table, her mind rewound to her embarrassing moment from earlier. She couldn't help it! Help the fact that Cinder appealed to all her tastes. She's attractive, sly, smart... Emerald could spend hours naming off Cinder's amazing qualities, but that'd get her nowhere fast.

Was it really that hopeless?

She asked herself that everyday. Hell, she didn't even know if Cinder swung that way. The soul-crushing feeling of finding out your crush isn't into the same gender was something Emerald didn't want to experience.

Be that as it may, she needs to start somewhere.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe the next day.

Who knows.

Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

**Well there ya' go! Sorry if it was cliché at times, but you know...**

**Leave feedback with ideas or opinions, I'd love to hear what ya'll think of these pairings I'm going with here. Thanks for reading this new story of mine!**


	2. Try-hard

_**A/N **_**Wow... I am really surprised/stoked at the reception that first chapter got. You guys exceeded my expectations and for that you are all awesome. **

**In response to how I didn't go too in-depth with the characters I introduced in chapter 1; well it was just a test. I had no clue it would get this well received for the pairings I picked. You'll get some decent background in this chapter. Thanks again for giving this fun thing a chance!**

Chapter 2. Try-hard

When 9:00 P.M rolled around later that evening, Emerald relinquished herself of her waitress apron and grabbed some of her belongings to leave with. Generally she enjoyed her job at 'The wick'. It was the combination of a great learning experience and new encounters that made the job redundant-free. Sure, some of those encounters were not the greatest, but much like Neo's outlook; it got her paid.

The girl paced to the back staff-room of the restaurant to find it completely empty. She smiled upon seeing her beige laptop tote still hung in the same spot she had left it in. Emerald quickly shoved her apron inside of it and traded it out for her phone.

At the top of the notifications list was a text message from Mercury. Emerald rolled her eyes, already knowing what the message would say.

**M: Nice moment there. So, when's the wedding? lol**

_'Moron.'_

The dark-skinned girl tossed the phone back into her bag as quickly as it had come out. Her face flushed slightly at what transpired earlier.

_'That was a good look down her shirt...'_

_'What am I saying!?'_

"Mercury..." she muttered. Thanks to the message he had sent; the only thing on Emerald's mind for the rest of the evening would revolve around a certain obsidian-haired goddess.

She dug around the depths of her mind for anything to switch mental subjects. "Oh right." She spoke aloud, remembering she had a bus to catch.

The city bus was her primary mode of transportation to and from work. Many of her friends asked her: "Why don't you ask Cinder?" As she was the only one with her own car. Except for Weiss, but she wasn't up for being the gangs carpool.

There were two reasons as to why Emerald declined the offer of a ride from Cinder. The first being that her RX-7 was a two seater. Meaning no matter the circumstances, it would _always _be just the two of them. Secondly Emerald was too nervous, always afraid of doing something stupid or embarrassing.

But the sheer thought of being alone with Cinder was nearly intoxicating.

Thoughts aside, Emerald made haste to leave the restaurant so she wouldn't miss the bus. She jogged out the front door, and immediately felt the cool night air of spring grace over any exposed skin. Her jeans covered her legs well, but the short sleeve tee made the girl resent not bringing a jacket today.

Emerald shivered lightly and jogged across the parking lot using the various street lamps to guide her way in the dark. She eventually came to a bus stop resting on a corner just across the street from 'The Wick'

Realizing she was earlier than usual, Emerald's thoughts wafted back to the same subject as before;

Cinder.

An awkward one-sided moment such as today's was one of many she had done over the past few years. Before that was an easier time when she and Cinder were just good friends. The two of them met in their last year before high school. Emerald had transferred from a different school out district. She didn't have very many friends, but that didn't bother her so much. She was more of the type to see and not be heard. Popularity didn't phase her at all and everything was more of an observation than an interaction.

Her very first encounter with the ebony-haired girl was at a local variety store that was located an equal distance from both her home and Cinder's. On her way out after purchasing something, she had accidentally bumped into Cinder. Emerald had been wholeheartedly expecting an angry repose, but instead Cinder just shrugged.

When the first eye contact had been made, and crimson met gold, there was an immediate spark of friendship between them. Cinder started to poke fun at how weird Emerald was acting which spiraled into a long talk about many random subjects. One of them was school, and they quickly found out they'd both be attending Signal High in September.

In truth, it was in her third year of high school when Emerald started to feel a... different attraction to Cinder. And by senior year; it snowballed into infatuation.

The first thing Emerald found attractive about Cinder was -without a doubt- her appearance. The ebony-haired girls style was unique to say the least. A perfect mix of elegance and punk. She'd always dress in tight ripped jeans, a stylish top, and some bad-ass boots. Her ebony tresses were always styled with a smooth eye-covering sweep. It showed off the various piercings on her ear, and highlighted the others in her eyebrow as well. Emerald herself never liked the idea of sticking metal into her body, but that was a totally different story on Cinder.

Just plain sexy.

All of this was sported on a beautiful body that she could drone about for days.

And days.

_And days..._

Cinder's personality filled the other half of the equation. Cool, was probably the word to summarize it. The ebony-haired girl was the laid back type that takes very few things seriously. It was extremely fascinating to Emerald. Cinder never does her homework -but gets good grades. Eats what she wants -and still maintains her physique. Practically logic defying, and all apart of this mysterious attitude that dripped with intrigue.

But all of this wasn't without fault. A fault Cinder had that made everything extremely complicated for Emerald;

Her oblivion.

Indeed it was. Emerald's many awkward 'moments' around Cinder had gone unnoticed -hence why there was so many. Cinder was relatively laid back and 'cool' about everything, so long as you didn't test her, she's a pretty cool person to hang around with. But that attitude had unfortunately seeped into her relationship instincts, as even she had never dated anyone before.

The invisible wall of Cinder's oblivion was the biggest obstacle. Emerald was just downright fearful at how to ask Cinder out, if her sexual preferences were the same, and how to go about even talking to the girl.

Day in and day out was nothing but subverted torture for Emerald. The way Cinder looks, her personality, her voice -everything was astonishingly beautiful.

In reality it was just sublime affection. A dream hovering somewhere out of Emerald's reach.

The past few weeks had solidified some of her feelings on that. That it really was just hopeless. That she was just another friend.

That Cinder would never feel the same way.

That was the most difficult part. If Cinder doesn't feel the same way, Emerald would have to accept that. Cinder's reciprocation wasn't something she could force or impose.

The loud roar of a city bus pulling up, snapped Emerald from her thoughts. She retrieved her bus pass from her pocket, showed it to the driver, and assumed a spot roughly in the middle of the coach. As the doors closed she pulled out her phone once more and plugged in her earphones. The mint-haired girl scatted through her music library and settled on some punk rock, ironically enough it was an album Cinder had showed her a few days prior. As the song played, she settled back into the same thoughts from just a minute ago.

In theory, time for Emerald was running out. Thankfully she, as well as almost all her friends, had elected to take a extra year in high school with the exception of Weiss for obvious reasons. But where time was short lied in her own actions. Many people outside her group of friends assumed she and Mercury are dating, and if that fact was to solidify itself through gossip and rumors; Cinder would undoubtedly believe it as the truth. That was the thing of Emerald's nightmares, that Cinder would phase her out all together -and the idea of a relationship would... die.

Roughly.

Scared by the fate she held in her hands.

As the vehicle strolled along, stopping every so often, a billboard at one of the bus stops caught her eyes. An ad for sale at a Honda dealership,

**'Act Now! These **_**smokin' hot **_**deals won't be around forever.'**

Emerald cackled to herself, finding it funny how her relationship problems could be compared to a deal on a Honda.

_'Cinder's no Honda, that's for sure...'_

_'Something... sportier.'_

_'Smooth paintjob'_

_'Convertible'_

_'Driving along... top up...'_

_'I'm such a pervert...'_

_**######**_

"Yeah, yeah, Dad!" Neo shouted out to her father. She waved him off as he closed to front door to their condo. Neo was an only child, and thus her parents leaned on the overprotective side of things. Sometimes it was tolerable, other times... not so much.

It was yet another cool spring morning that irked her senses as she stepped off the porch, onto the driveway. The breeze was calm, but gave that damp spring feeling she'd rather not feel.

Neo's house rested an average walking distance from Signal High, but as of a few moths ago, walking was no longer her primary mode of travel.

The pink and auburn-haired girl tentatively glanced around her driveway before stepping out onto the sidewalk. She grabbed her phone and sent a certain someone a text, or rather, a signal.

Within seconds of sending it, the sound of an engine kicking up was heard. And seconds after that, Cinder's car peeled around the corner and made a brisk stop in the neighbors driveway.

"C'mon, C'mon!" Cinder beckoned, "Gas isn't cheap."

Neo rolled her eyes and dashed across the neighbors lawn, she was thinking about sliding across the hood of Cinder's car to get in, but didn't want to risk falling.

Having overprotective parents often made her want to try stupid things.

Cinder had to park in the neighbor's driveway for one simple reason: if her parents saw her climbing into a friend's car; she'd never hear the end of "How dangerous it was," or "You could've died."

The shorter girl circumvented the car and hopped in the passenger side. She tossed her bag on the floor and eyed her ebony-haired friend. Cinder was dressed in her more relaxed set of clothing. A pair of maroon Capri pants, and a tight black shirt that read the words: 'I Can Be Nice, Can You Be Smart?' plastered across the chest.

Neo giggled, "Nice shirt."

"Hm? Oh, thanks. Ruby gave it to me, said she bought it online, but they sent her the wrong size." Cinder explained.

"That... actually makes sense."

"You look like you just rolled out of bed." Cinder said in reply.

"What?" Neo glanced down at herself. She opted for something a little more casual and choose to wear gray sweat pants and a form-fitting white hoodie.

"Oh nothing." Cinder grinned, "Unlike some things..." her mind drifted off to the thought or Ruby's crush on the short girl right next to her. Only herself and Yang were the ones who knew about it. And had both promised to keep it a well-guarded secret.

The ebony-haired girl put the car in reverse and eased out onto the street. As her driving began, Neo was the first to instigate conversation. "So what's up?"

Cinder exaggerated a shrug, "My mom's still a total bitch; she honestly tried to lock me out of the house last night."

Neo gave the girl a decisive look, "You shouldn't be so mean to her y'know. You'll need her before she needs you." She spoke. Neo didn't know all of Cinder's parental situation, but the ebony-haired girl always complained about her being "The worst mother on earth."

Eyes still focused on the road, Cinder cracked a smile, "Yeah, sure. That's if I don't die of asphyxiation from her second hand smoking."

Neo looked surprised, "That got dark..."

"My mind tends to wander. Seriously though, you have no clue."

"O-kay. Anything else that... isn't dark?" Neo questioned.

"We're almost at school?" Cinder sounded like she was genuinely unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Pfft." Was all that Neo said. The multi-colored girl slumped back in her seat and shook her head.

_'Emerald definitely isn't lying when it comes to getting through to this girl.' _

They continued to drive for a few more minutes until they came upon their school: Signal High. The school was just your run-of-the-mill High School located in the middle-class area in the northern side of Vale. A large stone and steel building rising two story's, with a parking lot flanking the right, and an open sports field flanking the left.

Cinder elegantly pulled her prized car into the driveway that led to the lot. She choose a space resting the furthest distance from the school as she didn't like people anywhere near her car. Cinder brought it to a calm halt and killed the engine.

In synchronization, both girls reached for their bags, then the door handles and stepped out of the black Mazda. Cinder locked the vehicle and slung her laptop bag over her shoulder. Neo appeared to the side and they both strolled into school together.

After wafting though the various hallways, the duo came upon the school's main atrium where the rest of their friends stood idly by -chatting to one another. The group consisted of the regulars: Ruby, Emerald, and Mercury. Next to them was Weiss was pointing at Yang liked she'd done something wrong.

Mercury was the first to spot Neo and Cinder approaching, he squinted his eyes and glared at the font on the ebony-haired girl's shirt. "You saying I'm dumb?" He called out.

Cinder sighed and facepalmed, "Normal people say 'Hi' when they see their friends. But yeah, you are an idiot." She addressed him.

Emerald turned and made eye contact with the girl of her dreams, "Hey Cinder!" She spoke, her tone a little louder than needed. The girl in question joined in next to Ruby. "Have I ever told you how nice you are Em?" She directed that comment to Mercury, glaring at him.

Emerald turned away and blushed, not because of the comment made, but the fact that she caught herself staring at the bolded words on the chest of Cinder's shirt.

Not to read however.

"Something wrong Em?" The obsidian haired girl innocently asked. She may be completely oblivious to Emerald's massive crush, but that doesn't factor out her sly attitude.

"N-No, l... your shirt made me laugh." Emerald lied.

"You seem to be the best dressed out of all of us." She glanced at Mercury's shabby dress style.

Emerald looked away with flustered flattery testing her integrity. Cinder hadn't been lying. Emerald was clad in designer shoes purchased with her job money, with taut beige jeans, and a stylish deep green spring jacket.

At first Mercury gave Cinder the stink eye for sending him so many snide comments, but when he saw Emerald's flustered face; his disposition changed to a smooth smirk. Getting his kicks off of the mint-haired girls silent suffering.

"Um, hello I'm here t-"

"Hi Neo!" Ruby shouted. Cutting the shorter girls greeting off. "...sorry..."

The only male in the group cleared his throat, as he was quickly getting tired of small-talk "Ruby? You're streaming tonight, right?"

The girl in question shrugged, "Yeah, it's No-life Friday, duh."

"What game are you planning on playing?" Cinder asked.

"The usual."

Mercury heaved a sigh, "Borderlands? Again? C'mon play something else."

"Nope." She stated, "Everyone here likes it except for you."

"Whatever. I'll still show up."

If there was one thing anyone should know about Ruby, it's her game stream on Twitch. Every Wednesday and Friday she'd go live with a random game and the viewers -who were pretty much all of her friends- would log on and watch. It was a good way to get through homework, or to just chat.

"Everyone's watching tonight right?" Her question had been directed mostly to Neo.

Ruby's expression sank a bit as everyone nodded but Neo.

The pink and auburn-haired girl checked her phone before addressing everyone else, "We should split, class starts in five." The multi-colored girl grabbed onto Ruby's arm and tugged her off to Calculus. Cinder left with Mercury to Digital Arts , and Emerald walked with Yang and Weiss to Gym class.

Ruby was slightly taken back by Neo's action and felt a warm flutter in her chest. Neo's grip was strong, and as far as Ruby knew; she didn't want Neo to let go.

The crimsonette's attraction with Neo started during the beginning of her prior semester. Before that, Ruby wasn't really into the whole dating game. It wasn't until her sister Yang had told her about how she has 'feelings' for Weiss, it was at that point that the word 'relationship' took on different meaning than 'just friends'.

Her entire teenage life, Ruby had never really been attracted to guys. But when certain girls like Neo happened along, her heart beat rose, and skin tinged with heat. It was then that she decided she was just like Yang, and preferred the same sex.

It was difficult coming out to her parents about it, but much like they had done with Yang; the concept was welcomed with open arms. Ecstatic about that, Ruby set her eyes on the pink and brown haired girl who was currently dragging her through the halls. The crimsonette wasn't ashamed in the slightest for admitting that she may or may not be totally whipped by the shorter girl.

_'She's cute, smart, nice, and totally out of your league Rose.'_

That was Ruby's general strife with Neo. She felt as if the girl was astronomically out if her league, be that as it may, Ruby thought day in and day out on a game-plan for even starting a relationship. But every time her words would come out as jumbled messes, and Neo would just think it was funny.

On the flip side of this relational coin, Neo held the idea in a total different capacity.

It all started with her parents. On the surface they seemed like normal people, but take a deeper look and it becomes very evident that her parents are _very _old school and somewhat conservative. A little overbearing at times, and slow to embrace new ideas.

When Neo had come out to her parents about her sexuality, it didn't go over well. It hit them like a ton of bricks. Her mother wasn't happy, but her father was absolutely livid at the idea. But Neo wasn't the one for angry outbursts or fights like the ones Cinder described with her mother. Instead she bottled it up, and never told anyone.

With each passing day the pain inside of her gets worse. Not having enough courage to talk to anyone. All of this resulted in a lot of restless nights and a feeling of seclusion, and jealousy. Jealous because everyone had that luxury if being accepted, and she didn't.

At first Neo wanted to tell her friends, but her hesitancy got the better of her and she chickened out. As weeks turned to months, everyone just assumed she was straight. With that idea solidified; her proverbial grave was dug. Every time she thinks of telling the truth, the disappointed image of her parents comes to mind.

And she feels disgusted with herself.

There was one girl however.

Ruby.

Ruby's quirky personality, combined with her angelic nature and adorable looks placed her at the top of Neo's list of people she could probably come out to. She likes Ruby, maybe not in the relationship status way, but where Neo would feel totally comfortable speaking the truth and KNOW it would be understood.

Stubbornness still got in the way, and Neo held back.

"Neo? Hello? Neo?" A familiar voice called out to her. She relinquished her thoughts and came back down to earth -quickly realizing she was still dragging Ruby along.

"Sorry, I was... daydreaming."

"It's cool, I-I do that all the time! But uhh... you walked right by our calculus classroom." She said meekly.

"My bad. C'mon let's go, we're late now." Neo suggested. This time she just let Ruby follow next to her. Ruby would occasionally share glances with her shorter friends before quickly looking away and focusing on the floor. As they reached the door to their class, Ruby groaned.

_'I don't know how Emerald does it.'_

_**######**_

"Thank fricking God for Fridays." Ruby blanched. She tossed her pen across the desk in her room and flipped her notebook shut. The girl felt as if teachers gave more work on Fridays just to spite their students. Nonetheless, eight o'clock was still early for a Friday evening.

"Stream time." She muttered. The girl wheeled her chair over to her custom-built desk where her Xbox and T.V. rested on. She began setting up everything on top of the oak desk including the console, TV, recorders, and the game itself.

Ruby reached for her red and black gaming headset and placed it into the tresses of her crimson tinted hair. She followed with a few speech tests before logging into Twitch and making sure everything was all set. As Borderlands 2 reached its main menu, she adjusted the camera that was recording herself, making sure the on screen thumbnail size was just right.

Within seconds of the feed going live, six people joined the chat room. The first few being;

**c1nd3r: **Hey Red.

**mercblack: **Sup loser

**/3merald: **Shut up merc

**c1nd3r: **yeah stfu

Ruby laughed a bit, "Guys, don't start already."

**mercblack: **psh

Ruby averted her eyes from the chat interface and back onto her game screen. She hit the 'Continue' button and began.

_**######**_

Within just an hour the stream had racked up to nearly one hundred active viewers. Ruby laughed and shouted at the monitor at the various emotions the game elicited. Every so often she'd glance to the chat and was easily able to pick out her friends chat though everyone else's.

The girl got really immersed into the game, killing enemies left and right, picking up loot, and shouting profanities when she died were all apart of the fun.

"No no no no!" She shouted, watching as her ammo indicator on her best gun read 'Empty', "Shit!" She cursed loudly as her health slowly deteriorated.

_'Ruby, language.' _A voice called from downstairs. "Sorry Dad!' She yelled back.

**c1nd3r:** sounds like my mom lol

**therealiceprincess:** You shouldn't be swearing like that.

Ruby blanched for a second, wondering why the heck Weiss showed up. "Weiss? What're you doing here?"

**therealiceprincess: **None of your business.

**mercblack:** go away

**neo-polymer: **Even online you're still an ass dude

Ruby went slack-jawed at seeing Neo's user-name show up in the chat log. She NEVER came to watch the stream. Video games just weren't her cup of tea. The crimsonette snapped from her daze and focused back on the game, blushing all the while.

_'I really wish there wasn't a camera here now...'_

With Neo's appearance in the chat room; Ruby couldn't focus. In the time she had looked away from the screen, her character had already died once, and was immediately getting shot at again

Unbeknownst to Ruby, Cinder was grinning like a mad. Unable to resist having a little fun.

**c1nd3r: **show Neo how it's done red ;)

Ruby desperately tried to stomp down her blush, _'Dammit Cinder...' _she took a deep breath and jumped back into it. Even still the feeling of Neo subversively watching made the room feel like it was ten degrees hotter.

Over and over Ruby kept getting killed in the game. Being mobbed by enemies from her lack of focus. Her head jerked repeatedly to the chat log, seeing if Neo had anything to say. Among the messages she read;

**mercblack: **man u suck

**neo-polymer: **what's even happening right now?

**c1nd3r: **red is all hot and bothered

**/3merald: **ahahahahahha! good one Cinder

**c1nd3r: **...

As the minutes went by the viewers dwindled to only four. Ruby's progress still got her nowhere, and eventually everyone left.

When the view count reached zero, Ruby chucked her controller onto her desk like it was poisonous. She stepped back from the monitor and tore off her headset too. She began running her hands through her hair -slightly damp from nervous sweating. Her body was much the same, perspiration making her shirt cling to her form. Never in her life had she felt more on the spot than in that moment.

"Aw man..." she groaned sadly. "Of all days..."

Ruby confided herpes by flopping down on her bed, arms resin behind her head. Embarrassed was all she could think of, at how quick Neo made her hot-under-the-collar. She was disappointed however. Once again feeling trapped by her own emotions.

She froze for the countless time.

She needed to get over it.

But how?

_**A/N **_**How was that? The stream part wasn't originally going to be here, but I threw it in for the C & C fans out there anyway. I'm really falling for these pairings so this fic will be larger than I planned. Also, are you guys interested in weekly updates? Let me know. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Perchance

_**A/N **_**This was supposed to be out Friday, but FanFiction was down. Damn 503 errors... **

**So I haven't done a fic for a while that features two pairings so, I kinda worked out a structure where one chapter will have Emberald themes, and the next will have C & C themes. With the odd intersection of the two here and there. Sound good?**

**Once again, thanks everyone for those awesome reviews, fav's, and follows! Enjoy.**

Chapter 3. Perchance

Cinder arrived at Neo's house like she did even morning. Neo had texted her ahead of time, saying it was okay to use her driveway as her parents had left early for work.

Cinder felt like she was in dejavu mode. The conditions had been the exact same yesterday, with sunny skies, warm -lightly humid air, and the thoughts of winter being behind them.

Tapping her palms on the steering wheel, Cinder slowly started to grow impatient. Even with Neo's parents leaving early, the multi-colored girl somehow added latency to the situation.

"Come...on" The ebony-haired girl droned. For once she was actually excited to go to school. April brought on the kick-up of sports at Signal. Volleyball, her utmost favorite, was starting, and senior girls first practice was today. Despite the clichés, Cinder always liked the sport. She's been playing it since childhood, and got into the competitive side upon going to Signal.

Every championship since junior year, Signal's girls volleyball team always brought home to trophy. The lead girls being Cinder herself, as well as Weiss and Emerald. But it wasn't until last year, when they lost the tournament for the first time.

The ebony-haired girl still didn't understand why. Everyone was laser-focused on the final game.

Well, almost everyone.

Emerald. The teams star server, had been off that day. Every serve was fumbled, and when she hadn't been serving, she kept missing the ball from lack of communication. In fact, almost every game last season was like that. Cinder didn't outright blame Emerald like Weiss had, but she was a little upset at not winning.

_'Hopefully, this year Emerald doesn't screw shit up'_

The closing of Neo's front door pulled Cinder from her game thoughts, and placed her attention at Neo jumping off the porch. The smaller girl wore a simple white and black, jacket-jeans combo. Her hair in an off-center pony tail.

"Don't hurt yourself." Cinder cackled through the open window. Watching as Neo fumbled her landing.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry I took so long, had to get my hair _just _right." Neo explained.

"Oh?" Cinder pulled a smirk, "Trying to impress someone?"

Neo tossed her bag on the floor and buckled her seat belt, "No way. And it's not my fault you can crawl out of bed with perfect hair." The girl nodded off to Cinder. The ebony-haired of the two was dressed in her stylish manor today. Wearing her sharp athletic jacket and taut shorts.

Cinder laughed a little louder, "Aww, you mean it?" She said, flashing Neo an innocent look.

The shorter girl merely rolled her eyes, "Can we go please? I need to get there sooner so I can get something to eat."

Cinder held up her hand for Neo to stop, and reached for the compartment located between the front seats. She opened the console and gestured for Neo too look. The girls pink eyes went awry before glancing at what was inside.

"What, the, hell?"

Neo's vision came in contact with a plethora of different snacks, everything ranging from trail-mix to Kitkat bars could be found inside. As Neo sat in a daze, Cinder reached over and opened the dash glove compartment, in there was several bottles of water.

Neo gave Cinder a strange look, "Why do you have all this?"

"In case I forget breakfast."

The multi-colored girl produced a bag of Skittles, "You call this breakfast?"

"Oh for... shut, up Mom!" Cinder quipped loudly. "You taking it or not?"

"I'll pass..."

Cinder snatched the bag from Neo's loose grip, tore it open, downed a handful, and started the car.

Neo couldn't help but laugh, the situation reminding her of those silly Skittles commercials. The words "Taste the rainbow" stuck in her head. Before Cinder pulled the car from the driveway, she asked her one final -somewhat important- question.

"So, why do you exactly have all this stuff in here?"

"Because," Cinder checked her mirrors, "Soon as I got this car; I realized if I ate breakfast in here; it meant less time in the house. Just built up over time." She gestured to the interior of her car.

The multi-colored girl stared incredulously at Cinder. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I'm going to start calling this 'Cinder's fact of the day'. Because every morning you always say some random fact about your life. Could probably use you as an English assignment." Neo stifled back a laugh, "Cinder Fall." She made a wide armed gesture, "The girl behind all that invulnerable hair." Neo announced in a narrative tone.

"Ha-ha..." Cinder droned.

"Pfft, I think it's funny."

The ebony-haired girl palmed her chest as if she was insulted, but Neo knew she was faking, "I have abandonment issues, okay?! Leave me alone..." her voice sounded like an exaggerated fake sob. Then, Cinder's expression shifted to a glare, "That good enough for you?"

"See you're pretty good." Neo added.

"Whatever, let's go... I've got practice."

"Whatever you say..." Neo turned to face ahead, but did it slowly. Something about Cinder seemed... off. When she had joked about "Abandonment issues" the girl looked as if she wasn't joking at all. Neo liked to think she was good at picking up emotions, and in practice she usually was. The glint in Cinder's eyes, even for a short second, was like a crack in her structure. On top of that was how much more acidic Cinder had been with her words and actions. But it wasn't just today. In fact it had been most days as of late.

"Hey Cinder?"

"Can I help you?"

"Nevermind. Not... important."

It made Neo think. Not enough to pry, but enough for her to worry.

_**######**_

"All I'm saying is, don't screw it up again." Weiss Schnee directed her snide comment to her fellow teammate, Emerald.

"God, Weiss, I was just having an off day." Emerald punctuated back. Both girls shared first period gym together, and with Volleyball practice during second; they just hung around the change room until the rest of the team, happened to show up.

Weiss checked the laces on her shoes, ruffled out her white tank-top and pointed at Emerald. "We're a team, off days are unacceptable." She chided.

Emerald, clad in shorts and an olive tee, glared back at the white-haired nuisance, "Just drop it Weiss," She said defensively.

Weiss wanted to keep wringing the girl out for her fumbles at last year's tournament final, but in all actuality, she already had her answer and getting mad about it would get her nowhere. That answer was Emerald's 'Distraction'

"Fine." The haughty girl muttered.

Emerald sighed internally, half Weiss had listened for once. The girl usually meant well. But got a little too competitive at times.

Just as Emerald reached for her water bottle, the back door of the change room brushed open. Cinder was standing on the other side, dressed in her teams sport coat with her last name "Fall" stitched on the back, and a pair of black short-shorts.

"Good, you're here." Weiss half greeted.

"Hey Cin." Emerald spoke from behind Weiss.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Cinder nodded back. The ebony-haired girl paced by Weiss and set her bag down on a bench just to the left of Emerald. Immediately she unzipped it and prodded through its contents.

"Where's the rest of the team?" Cinder asked.

"Should be here soon." Emerald responded. The mint-haired girl watched as Cinder pulled a water bottle and a black scrunchy from her bag. She watched even closer as Cinder reached for the zipper on her jacket. The taller girl unzipped the branded material, revealing an orange sports-bra, and making Emerald's face fluster with heat.

Weiss simply smiled, immediately noticing Emerald's uneasy posture. "I'm going to go look for the rest of the team." Her words were directed to Cinder, but her evil smile was directed to Emerald. The dark-skinned girl gave Weiss the 'Please don't leave me alone!' look.

Emerald watched as Weiss left the room. She kept her head turned _away _from Cinder -panicking on what to do.

_'Okay... not good. Just, head up eyes up. Head up, eyes up.'_

Her gaze slowly shifted back to Cinder. Her secret crush placed used the scrunchy and tied her hair back into a ponytail.

"What's with you?" Cinder grinned.

Emerald tore her eyes off of Cinder's toned stomach, "I... was thinking about the game, that's it."

"Hey, don't worry about last year. I'm sure we'll win this time." Cinder consoled, for reasons different than to what Emerald had in mind.

"You're right. No biggie."

"See? There's the Em I know." The girl gave a sincere smile.

_'God she's so nice...'_

_**######**_

Leaving the gym with Weiss, Emerald was pleased by her own performance on the court today. She maintained her _proper _Volleyball skills, and worked fluidly with the rest of the team. Even Weiss was glad that Emerald was able to keep focus.

After their successful practice, Emerald and Weiss changed out of their perspired gym clothes, and into something fresh and comfortable. Cinder hadn't joined them to lunch today. The ebony-haired girl had a slight mess - up during practice and sprained her ankle. So she was sent home early.

Emerald couldn't understand why. It didn't make sense. Cinder never messed up, plain and simple. But in contrast to her normal behavior, Cinder didn't seem distracted. She seemed I'll-at-ease, restless almost.

However Emerald didn't dwell too much on the matter. She still had more important things to ponder over; such as asking that saffron-eyed, bundle of sleekness out.

"...She better show up tomorrow. I swear if we lose again- are you even paying attention?"

Weiss' shrill voice pulled Emerald from her thoughts, her cerulean eyes narrowed.

"I, think she'll be fine Weiss. She's probably at home sleeping or something." Emerald replied.

Weiss made an offhand gesture, "Whatever. I have to find Yang, so I'll see you tomorrow." The white-haired girl gave a half wave and strolled off.

Emerald simply waved and shrugged. The dark-skinned girl decided it was best to head out for lunch. She made her way down the opposite hallways that led to the back of the school. Outside, next to some bikeracks and a path leading out to the soccer field, sat two lunch benches. On them she could clearly make out the heads of Mercury, Ruby, and Neo.

"I'm telling you guys, try this shit." Mercury said, mouthful of food.

"Dude, gross; don't talk with your mouthful." Ruby shuffled away from Mercury's position at the lunch table.

Neo set her fork down and gave Mercury a disgusted look. "You know that's not real meat, right?"

Mercury took another bite of his sandwich, "Eh, tastes fine to me."

A gym bag landing on the table broke the trio's conversation. They all looked up to the left to see Emerald standing at the end of the table.

"Oh, hey Em." Ruby greeted.

"Where's your crush- I mean where's Cinder?" Mercury sputtered, catching his slip up.

"She left early, hurt herself during practice." Emerald replied, a tad bit snippy.

This time; Neo chucked her fork on the table, "Oh bull. The girl who never hurts herself, gets hurt the day we have an assignment due."

"Assignment?" Ruby pondered.

"Ah, I just remembered that." Emerald said, her expression dropped as it seemed the real reason Cinder had left was to evade school work. She didn't do stuff like this often, which made this out of the ordinary. "We... had a group project due in History today." Emerald continued. "Neo and I were doing the oral speech and she was in charge of the presentation."

The viridian-haired girl was legitimately perplexed regarding Cinder's leave this morning. She didn't wholeheartedly believe the girl left just to escape school work. Plus, Emerald could count on one hand the amount of times Cinder hurt herself during a game or otherwise. And that wasn't often. Emerald just couldn't shake the thought.

"Uggghhh," Neo lamented. "Cinder is already on Goodwitch's bad side, she'll be hounding us for this."

Emerald sighed, "Well we'll have to take the heat for it. I'll... hm. I'll head over there after class and see what's what."

"Pfft, yeah right. Like you'd head over to _her _house alone." Mercury quipped, spitting out some food.

"W-What's wrong with going over there?" Deep down, Emerald already knew the answer as to why.

"Whoo-pish." Mercury sounded, making a gesture like her was cracking a whip. "That's why. You'll go over there and-" The silver-haired boy cut himself off to make a sloppy gawk. Ruby started to snicker but ceased to do so when Emerald glared at her.

But Mercury still didn't let up, "We all see the way you stare at Cinder's- whoa! Neo what the hell?!"

The pink and auburn-haired girl took the rest of her soda and chucked it at Mercury, fatefully he was wearing a white and black jacket.

"Man, I... why do I hang out with you?" He pondered while trying to dab his shirt with a napkin. His question fell on deaf ears as his three compatriots ignored him completely.

Ruby placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward, coming in close to Neo. "What was Emerald staring at?" The girl whispered.

Ruby's naivete brought a smile to Neo's lips and a sudden warmth in her cheeks, _'She's so innocent sometimes, it's cute.'_

"N-Nevermind Ruby." The tri-colored girl answered.

Ruby slumped back to her spot, chin resting in her palm, still clueless as ever. Sometime during their short exchange, Mercury had up and left. Neo checked her watch and decided it was high time to leave for class. She tossed her empty containers into a nearby trash can and shouldered her bag. "I gotta head to my locker, I'll see you guys later."

"W-Wait," Ruby pulled up from the bench. "I'll come with you, need to stop off at mine too."

Neo grinned, "Sure, later Em."

Emerald simply nodded them off. Ruby frantically grabbed her belongings and charged around the table to catch up with Neo. What could she say, Neo's smile was always worth the silly situation it elicited from.

The crimsonette caught up to Neo with ease. She walked toe and toe with her shorter friend, occasionally glancing over to see if she was glancing back. For the most part; Neo wasn't, but the odd time Ruby caught her; the multi-colored girl swiftly looked away.

Ruby herself wasn't one hundred percent sure what to make of her relationship with Neo. Sure they talked, hung out, and did all the normal things close friends would do -but even then, the scarlet girl couldn't help but feel like there was more there. Yang had given a synopsis of relationship with Neo one time. Basically, the blonde had described it as a chain of dominoes, and that all it would take is for one of them to tip the first domino -or make the first move so to speak. Then the two of them could sit back together and-

Ruby had no idea what Yang was getting at.

The blonde's analogies could use some fine tuning, but it was sufficient enough to get her point across. Dominoes aside, Ruby needed to make the first move, or at least hint at it.

_'As if that's not hard enough.'_

There were so many questions with very little answers. Neo was pretty closed-source when it comes to relationships and dating, leaving Ruby with absolutely no idea what her preferences are. The multi-colored girl seems to treat their relationship like friendship, and she doesn't talk about it. Meaning Ruby should be discouraged, right?

But the odd smile or blush of excitement said otherwise, and Ruby couldn't help but feel there was some form of chemistry there.

For now however, Ruby just comforts herself in the presence of Neo. Being around the girl was good enough, but that was for now, so what about later?

"Still can't believe Cinder left, like, come on." Neo said in exasperation. Ruby snapped from her musing and gave her a sideways look of inquiry, "Who knows, she could've actually got hurt."

Neo looked at Ruby with a straight face, "You really believe that?"

Ruby made a weird gesture that looked like she shrugged and nodded at the same time.

Neo grinned at Ruby's quirky behavior and continued to stroll forward. She remembered how strange Cinder acted this morning, but couldn't relate it to faking an injury to leave class for a day.

Even then, this wasn't about Cinder. All Neo wanted to do in that moment was keep strolling through the school with Ruby by her side.

_**######**_

"It's no big deal... you can do this..." Such was a phrase Emerald had been repeating to herself since she'd left home. History class hadn't gone terribly wrong. Mainly due to the fact that her group was one of many who weren't able to present. Instead, Goodwitch just handed out a short homework assignment -a simple article and some questions to answer. Emerald had offered to take an extra one and hand-deliver It to Cinder as am excuse to go over there.

Literally no reason behind it. All Emerald wanted to do was go over there.

So, after stopping off at home to change into something a little more form-fitting and spiffy; she began the decent trek to Cinder's house -notebook in hand. It was a substantial distance away, but Emerald didn't mind walking. The mild spring air that fluttered over her skin wasn't to bothersome, and seeing Cinder would make it worth her while.

She sighed in content upon making the final turn onto Cinder's street. The girl walked past the first few homes before coming to Cinder's two-story abode. As soon as Emerald reached the driveway, Cinder's mother, Autumn, came rushing out the door. She was dressed in a black casual suit. Car keys in hand.

Just as the woman reached her red sedan, she looked up incredulously, "Hey, aren't you friends with my daughter?" She questioned.

Emerald gave a half wave, "Yeah, I'm... Emerald. Is, uh, is Cinder here?"

"Oh, yes. She's upstairs sleeping. You can go in and wait for her if you like. I have to leave." Autumn said. She jogged back onto the step and unlocked the door for Emerald.

"Ou-kay." Emerald didn't even get a chance to respond. Instead she crossed over the driveway and allowed for Autumn to get in her car and pull out. The woman waving to her before peeling off down the street.

"Hm," The dark-skinned girl tutted. "That's the 'Workaholic'"

She shrugged that thought off and approached the door, and, with great trepidation, she turned the small brass handle and stepped inside. Her sense of smell immediately detected a mix of cigarette smoke and Cinder's fragrance.

The mint-haired girl knew the place pretty well, as she's been here with Neo and Ruby several times before.

But never alone.

_'Maybe I should go, she is sleeping, don't want to invade...'_

_'No, no. I can do this. Start with small talk.'_

A small sense of confidence is what propelled Emerald up those stairs to Cinder's room. She remembered it being the first door on the right of the hallway.

Tip toeing with stealth, she crossed the top step and took roughly ten paces down then hallway before getting close to Cinder's bedroom door.

_'Here we go.'_

When Emerald got close, a small sound emanating from Cinder's room made her jump, effectively making her drop her notebook.

She was completely frozen in place against the wall, hoping Cinder didn't come out of her room and see why her close friend was sneaking through the hallway.

Emerald allowed a few seconds to be sure, before reaching down to grab her book. However she heard the same sound again.

Then again.

And again.

Emerald's disposition dropped. Matching the sounds to something she couldn't believe to be true;

Crying.

_**A/N **_**Agh! I'm sorry, I have a bad habit with cliffhangers... but Cinder? Crying? Why... ya'll will just have to wait until next week. Thanks for reading, and tell me how that went! **


	4. In Different Directions

_**A/N **_**We got a problem people... I'm **_**really **_**digging these ships, **_**really **_**bad. This fandom is lacking in Emberald! I encourage you to write some! Uh, please? **

**Thanks for ALL your support though. I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I enjoy making it. **

**En-joy?**

Chapter 4. In Different Directions

"Sprained ankle... can't believe they actually bought it." Cinder Fall muttered to herself. It was all just a ruse. A simple ruse to get out of school work.

_'How cliché...'_

Cinder had faked an injury during practice, and seeded a lie. Telling her fellow teammates she was going to go and see the school's Nurse.

Emerald had been persistent, but Cinder reassured her friend that she could get there without the need of a human crutch, and as soon as Emerald let go; Cinder scurried off in the opposite direction. Her objective had been the school's parking lot. The ebony-haired girl dogtrotted to her car and climbed in as fast as possible.

That leads to now. Cinder just sitting in her car. She was hesitant on starting the engine, as her mind scanned over the _real _reason she'd left early.

Cinder had awoke this morning feeling... off. She wasn't sick, or in pain, just off. Like a mixture between realization and nervousness. Almost as if something was missing. But she quickly stamped the feeling down when she'd left to pick up Neo. Then, as soon as Neo climbed in the car, the feeling came back again. Cinder was able to hold it off and maintain her nominal composure, but it hit her ten times harder just before Volley practice commenced.

She'd grew more and more on-edge, and eventually the feeling became unbearable. So she faked an injury, and got out.

It wasn't until now that Cinder was able to put the pieces together. And it confused the hell out of her as to why this feeling was surfacing now. This late in the game.

She felt... alone.

It wasn't in the sense that she was alone. But rather, the intense anxiety she felt whenever her friends were too busy to hang out, or when she'd return home from school to find the house completely vacant.

When Cinder had joked to Neo about 'Abandonment issues' it hadn't been a complete joke. There had been the odd days when Cinder would ask why she was given a father who didn't care, and a mother who was never around to, care. Sometimes she'd have nightmares where everyone left her alone, and refused to talk with her.

However she'd awake the next day and forcefully forget it. Carry on with her 'whatever' attitude and fake her friends into believing that every thing was okay. In all honesty, it worked. But today marked the day it started to slip. Cinder had taken pause to observe those around her. While unofficial, Ruby has her 'thing' with Neo, Weiss has Yang, Blake and Pyrrha just got together, and she was sure Mercury would ask Emerald out any day now. Her father couldn't care less, and her mother was never around.

_'Where does that leave me?'_

Cinder kicked the uneasiness away and decided to drive home before anyone noticed.

_'I'll just go home, and lie down for a bit.'_ She had hoped a quick nap would make her feel better.

Cinder, twisted the key in the ignition and took off the moment the engine kicked up.

After running a couple stop signs, and making some swift turns, Cinder arrived at home. She parked her car next to her mother's and killed the engine. Moments later she grabbed her gym bag and climbed out -house keys in hand.

With a small sigh, she paced up the steps and unlocked her front door. Upon stepping in, she was greeted with the sight of her comatose mother on the couch, with the TV turned down low in the background. Cinder felt a tinge of that feeling again. Knowing the reason her mother was sleeping was that she'd be taking an evening shift.

Again.

The ebony-haired girl quietly made her way upstairs and directly into the room she called her own. Smiling as it seemed everything was where she left it, Cinder plunked face-first onto her bed. The induction of warmth from the soft duvet eased her senses, and quelled her rising anxiety.

However, it still gnawed at her. The feeling was deeming sleep invalid at this point, so Cinder contorted her body over, and faced up to the ceiling. The girl had just sat there, her mind blank, and her expression plain.

What felt like a mere ten minutes, was resultant of actually three hours. Cinder's confined thinking was broken by random sounds coming from the lower level. She heard the clattering of shoes, and the odd cuss word here and there. Assuming it was her mother, Cinder rolled out of bed with a yawn, and decided to check and see what was up.

Still clad in her gym ensemble, Cinder tip-toed downstairs. The gap above the banister giving her a panorama of the living-room. She reached the bottom with a silent 'thump' and turned to face down the hallway. Her expression lightened upon seeing her mother round the corner.

"You leaving early?" Cinder inquired.

Her mother, Autumn, brushed past her daughter without saying a word. Focusing her course to her shoes by the front door.

"Mom?" Cinder asked, slightly annoyed.

Autumn continued to pay her no-mind. She gathered her belongings for work by the door, then brushed past Cinder, and into the kitchen.

"Mom?!" Cinder shouted this time, fretful, but angered.

Autumn procured her car keys from the kitchen counter and, once more, stepped by Cinder like she wasn't even there. Worry-some, Cinder reached out and grabbed hold of Autumn's shoulder, trying to get her attention.

The woman reeled back viciously, yanking Cinder's grasp away and resuming her attempt to leave for work.

"It's early, why're you leaving?" The ebony-haired girl demanded.

Continually, Cinder was cut out and ignored. Her mother continued her preparations. She slipped on her sheen heels and grabbed her purse off a rung from a dining-room chair. Autumn paced over to the foyer room closet, she slid one of the panes back and produced a small beige suitcase matching her business attire.

Cinder went wide-eyed. Slightly crestfallen, she pointed at the suitcase, "W-What's that for?"

Autumn looked up, her own gold eyes plainly staring into those of her daughter. Finally addressing Cinder, she gently raised her hand and pushed Cinder's pointing down. "I'm doing the same thing your father did. I'm leaving."

Cinder looked genuinely stricken now. Almost on the verge of panic. "W-Why?!" She shouted.

"Because your father, moronic as he is, was right with cutting ties. You're on your own now." Autumn shifted the case to the door and turned her back to Cinder.

"T-This is some kind of joke r-right?" Cinder's resolve was slipping. Her body going cold and feverish at the same time.

"Goodbye, Cinder."

Autumn opened the door, and in milliseconds, was gone. The dark door closing gently behind her. Cinder stood there, dumbstruck and broken at what just happened. Not wanting to believe it, the girl with obsidian hair elicited an uneasy sigh before lurching forward and tearing open the front door.

"Come back... here..." She trailed off in awe.

No one was there.

She took a cautious step onto the porch, looking around intently. "Mom? What the...?" She called out, questioning her mother's whereabouts.

Her answer came sooner rather than later when her eyes had fallen upon the empty spot in the driveway. Her mother's car seemingly vanished into thin air.

And Autumn with it.

Cinder started to tremble. The anxiety becoming unbearable. Her worst nightmare played out directly in front of her. "Very f-funny." The girl murmured. "You can come back now."

Her silent plea matched the silence of that spring afternoon. Not a souk in sight. Nor a car, or any movement for that matter. Sorely it began to sink in. Cinder started to back up towards the house, wanting nothing more than to run back inside and pretend like none of this happened. When her back made contact with the rough brick flanking the door; she gasped. Feeling like she was trapped, and forced to accept that she's alone. Cinder's face went warm, her eyes watering over.

_'Don't you cry' _She chided herself.

_'She's gone. Can you blame her?' _

_'Shut, up.'_

_'You know I'm right. So go ahead and cry.'_

_'I said, shut-up!' _

A tear threatened to fall. Cinder's back hit the wall again, this time she went limp. Sliding down the rough surface, wincing as the brick scraped her skin.

_'S-she's not gone. She's not gone. She's not gone...'_

_'She is. And, you, are, alone.'_

_**######**_

"N-No!"

Cinder erratically jostled awake. Her sudden movement caused her to nearly fall off of what she assumed was _her _bed. The ebony-haired hard girl righted her posture and nervously surveyed the room. Saffron eyes darting around in tune with her labored breaths. Impatiently, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and checked the time. The device displaying 3:10 PM. Her breaths calmed when she realized what had just transpired was... a dream.

"Just a dream, Fall." She breathed out.

_'More like a nightmare.'_

Cinder rested back down onto her bed, her mind still painfully aware of what she just dreamt of. A dream that had been frequenting itself more and more as of late.

The ebony-haired girls thoughts weren't even given a chance to deepen when a wearily familiar door slam sounded from downstairs.

Autumn must've left for work. Cinder knew her dream was nothing but false, and the likelihood of her mother leaving wasn't likely, but it still decked her hard. It linked into her dream and placed a reminder of her place around here. Which in turn wasn't really a place at all.

Unless you call solitude a meaning to life.

Cinder couldn't hold it in anymore. The girl buried her face deep into her pillow and sobbed softly, grasping at the feather-filled object and not wanting to let go. Wondering what the heck was wrong.

_**######**_

Emerald didn't want to believe it was true. But there Cinder was, through the tiny gap of the open bedroom door, her crimson eyes picked up Cinder, lying face-down, her sobs barely audible, but confirmed. Emerald swung away from the door and planted her back against the adjoining wall. She felt stuck, not having a clue what to do. Cinder in such as state was something that wasn't even at the bottom of her list. It made her heart wrench, giving her the motive to burst in there and hush the girl as best as her skill would allow. But Emerald's nervousness got the better of her, and she stood there -frozen.

_'Just go in there and see what's up.'_

_'Yeah sounds great, Oh hey Cinder i snuck into your house like a stalker; is everything okay?'_

_'She's clearly upset.'_

_'Thanks tips, maybe you-'_

Emerald snapped from her internal turmoil at the sound of shuffling coming from Cinder's room. Not taking any chances, the self-proclaimed stalker scurried back down the hall and sprinted softly down the stairs. Thinking on her feet, Emerald devised a plan that seemed more... harmless than stalking. She paced back to the front door in an attempt to make it seem like she had just walked in. Upon hearing soft footfalls coming from upstairs, Emerald acted out her plan.

"Cinder?" She called out, "Your mom let me in. You home?"

_'This is what I should've done to start...' _

_'Oh shi-' _A muffled voice emanated from the second level.

With a saddened expression, Emerald sighed at hearing the distant shuffles and bangs from upstairs. Most likely Cinder's attempt to look presentable when she came down.

"Emerald?" Fall called back, "What're you doing here?"

"I..." The mint-haired girl stopped herself. She didn't want to bring up the project Cinder had skipped out on. Saying something like that after seeing... that, would be in bad taste. "I, came by... to..." Emerald had a hard time figuring out what to say. Her murmurs ceased however, as Cinder came diligently down the steps. Emerald was utterly shocked by how composed she looked. You never would've known she'd been crying two minutes ago. Still, it made Emerald feel worse, almost like Cinder's had... practice doing this before.

"Emerald..." Cinder grinned warmly.

"I came by to... see if you were okay... y'know with your foot... and stuff."

_'Smooth.'_

_'Shut-up'_

The slightly taller ebony-haired girl looked crestfallen for a moment, then perked back up, "It wasn't anything serious. Like I said before, I'm fine," Cinder assured her friend. Technically she wasn't lying, but that feeling was lingering again, each and every time she made eye contact with Emerald.

"Alright, well-"

"Would you like to stay? Just hang out? It hasn't been just you and I, in forever." Cinder tried not to make her request sound like an entreaty. Seeing Emerald did make things feel better, but only slightly, and temporary.

Wearily, but with a small smile, Emerald nodded, "Sure, I'm free till my shift at five."

"Good." Relieved, Cinder invited Emerald into the kitchen. Glad, that at least _someone _was here.

_**######**_

_6:28 P.M. Later that evening,_

"Em? Em? Hello? Remnant to Emerald, come in?" Neo gave Emerald's shoulder a decent shake.

"Hm, oh sorry," Emerald snapped from another daydream.

"You... alright? You seem kinda off."

"I'm fine Neo, no worries." Emerald gave an earnest smile towards Neo's generous curiosity. Truth be told, she wasn't fine at all. After spending a few hours at Cinder's place mostly sitting around in painfully awkward silence; the ebony-haired girl had all but forced Emerald into her car to give her a ride to work. That too was an awkwardly silent drive, with Emerald not knowing what to say, and Cinder's focus being somewhere off in oblivion.

With just a few words, Cinder saw Emerald off and drove home. Arriving at The Wick just in time, Emerald hustled to swap into her casual waitress outfit and get to work. But since her shift began, Emerald found herself stumbling, messing up order taking, and generally not into it like she normal was. But with the image of Cinder face-down and sobbing etched into her memory, how could she?

The dark-skinned girl simply told Neo everything was fine on the pretense that it wasn't really her business to spread, and somehow she felt as if it would come back to bite later on.

On the contrary, she has to face the ordeal alone now. Or at least _for _now. Doesn't change the fact that she has no clue where to start. She knows how stubborn Cinder can be sometimes, and her 'whatever' attitude never helped when it came to personal issues. Emerald has yet to come across such a scenario, but Ruby is closer to Cinder than anyone, an honorary sister so to speak. Ruby did tell a few stories about how difficult it was to get Cinder to talk.

If it was difficult for Ruby, it'd be extreme for Emerald.

Emerald just decided to take this one day at a time. For now, she'd continue her shift. She paced around to the back break-room to grab something to drink whilst things were slow. There she saw Neo, who was getting her belongings in order and readying to leave.

Emerald stared at Neo, "You're leaving now? It's six thirty." She stated the facts.

"Yep." Neo said with a wide smile, "I got here at three, I wasn't actually supposed to come in but... oh well."

The mint-haired Emerald crossed her arms, smiling, "Somewhere in a hurry?"

"Heading over to Ruby's place." Neo said, almost as if she wasn't telling the whole story.

"And do... what?"

Neo heaved an annoyed sigh, "Some new phone or something is launching at midnight, Cinder or Yang couldn't take her, so I offered."

"Wait," Emerald gave pause, "You drive?"

"Uhh, yeah." The multi-colored girl said like it was nothing.

"Doesn't Cin always give you a ride in the mornings?"

"Yeah, I would take my parents car, but my Dad needs it for work."

Emerald nodded along, "Hm, you sure you're ta-"

"_Tall enough to reach the pedals_, ha-ha-ha, like I haven't heard that a bazillion times." Neo spat with a glare.

Emerald cackled, and Neo simply brushed by her, giving a small curtsy and a wave before strutting off. She ignored the poor joke by Emerald, and felt jovial to spend the evening with Ruby. Slipping on her pink Bench jacket and hustling along to get to the crimsonette's place.

_**######**_

Late evening, or rather, early night came. Dusk came and went, and in its place was the cool quiet night of suburban Vale. Granted it still wasn't late, but it still felt peaceful. The nights were becoming less and less cool, but a light jacket was still necessary.

Neo had arrived at Ruby's house just shy of eight o'clock, they hung around until Taiyang and Summer had gone to sleep, which was around ten, and set out for...

"Where're we going again?"

Erratically getting her runners on, Ruby, wearing a dark maroon hoodie and silver jeans, paced over to the door in a hurry, "To, RadioShack!" The girl proclaimed.

Neo nodded in delight, she wasn't _that _clueless. She knew where they were going, but wasn't about to pass up the chance they to see Ruby nearly squeal in childlike glee over an electronic device.

"Wait," Neo remembered, "Didn't RadioShack claim bankruptcy, like, a week ago?"

"Exactly!" Ruby pounded her fist in her palm, "The midnight release is one of there feeble attempts to get customers. They've got a limited edition black and red model." The scarlet girl said with a maniacal undertone.

"Diabolical." Neo tutted. She zipped up her jacket and brushed off her black jeans. "Well, let's go."

Ruby grinned and tore open the front door. She was completely thrilled at the fact Neo opted to take her what with not being able to drive yet. Her excitement redlined at that fact that Neo didn't care how much she gushed over a new phone. She felt a tad bit nerdy about it, but said feeling was washed away with the pink and auburn-haired girl's acceptance of the situation.

_'Ooooh, we're actually going out!'_

_'Don't fool yourself.'_

_'Hey a girl can fantasize.'_

_'In more ways than one apparently.'_

_'Quiet you.'_

In all her internal drummings, Ruby now found herself standing directly in front of Neo's Dad's SUV. She ran around to the other side of the white vehicle and immediately climbed in. Neo simply smiling and doing much the same.

Hitting the starter, Neo brought the vehicle to life, checked her mirrors, and slowly eased out of the driveway. She'd just gotten her semi-license a few weeks back, so the girl was still mastering the ropes.

"Sooo," Neo hummed, "What's this phone your getting?"

"The Nexus 6." Ruby stated with a wide arm gesture.

"In red and black?"

"Oh, yep."

"Will the line be long?"

"It shouldn't, but I'm not taking _any _chances."

Neo nodded contentedly. "Fair enough."

Ruby let out a yawn that Neo swore was the cutest thing humanity's' ever heard. Trying to curb her enthusiasm, the multi-colored girl looked over, "You're not getting tired are you?"

"N-No. I was just stretching and that's... what I sound like when I stretch. Yep. Totally how it goes."

"You're rubbing your eyes." Neo pointed.

Ruby crossed her arms and held back another yawn, "Pfft."

Neo shook her head chuckling quietly. Her eyes averted back to the road, focusing on the short drive ahead. Much like herself, the drive was short indeed. They wound up in a plaza a few blocks east of 'The Wick' bordering on the more metropolitan side of Vale.

Neo brought the SUV to a halt directly in front of the store. Both herself and Ruby wore stunned expressions upon eyeing a completely vacant store, bar one employee who look about ready to pass out from boredom.

"No ones here?" Ruby said as she and Neo left the vehicle. They cautiously walked through the glass doors into the store, the singular male employee perking up immediately.

"Here for one of these?" He said with a melancholic sigh. To his left was a small mountain of phone boxes, looking like not a single person had come to purchase one yet.

Ruby nodded affirmatively, "I'll take it."

The sales representative merely shrugged and sauntered over to the front desk, Ruby and Neo following. As they walked over, Ruby stopped and turned around, "Uhm, thanks for taking me Neo, I know I can kinda be a kid sometimes but it means a lot."

"No sweat, this was kinda fun. We should... do this more often?"

Ruby's face tuned to a pinkish red, "R-Really? When, tomorrow? Or, or Thursday?"

"Relax," Neo said between laughs, "How about you come to my house tomorrow?"

"S-Sure! I-"

The sales rep cleared his throat, "You buying this or what?"

'Yeah, sorry."

_**######**_

With their mission completed faster than assumed, Neo and Ruby left the store. They climbed back into the SUV and set off for Ruby's house. It was nearing midnight now, and it was easy to see both of them were tired.

Neo remained awake however, because well... she has to drive of course. But also because of how excited she was for tomorrow. Ruby would come over! To her house! Sure things still sat on the friendship side of things, but this was all but a right step in the right direction.

Turning onto Ruby's street, Neo called to the crimsonette, "Ruby we're almost... there..." The multi-colored girl trailed off. There Ruby was, leaning against the window, sleeping soundly. Soft snores emanating from her lips, and a content smile on her face.

Wanting this little moment to last just a _little _longer, Neo grinned and made a turn down a random crescent, occasionly looking over at Ruby in the time her little detour allowed.

In subdued glee, Neo grinned, "I'll definitely be looking forward to tomorrow."

_**A/N **_**Whoa! Angst alert. Yeah... sorry if that angsty dive was unprecedented, but I needed to kick this off somehow. As a caution, the Emberald parts of this fic will be a little sadder/angsty, while the C & C will be lighter and more upbeat. Emberald will have its happy moments though.**

**Next chapter will be mostly C & C. Got some good stuff planned for those two. **

**Leave a review with your thoughts folks! I want to know what you guys think! **


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